Archive for April, 2012

Yes, summer is just around the corner! Only a few months more and school will be out for another sun-soaked summer. Part of the joy of summer, for both parents and their children, is the fun and excitement of summer camp. With excursions lasting from a few days to the entire summer long, this is the right time to start planning what you’ll purchase and pack to send the little ones on their way – with sweet pizzazz!

After all, what self-respecting mom or dad forgets the things like toothbrushes and toothpaste? Aren’t you a little more worried about being the parent who forgets to send along those sweet little somethings, those comforting reminders from home that help soothe away the sorrow of homesickness and banishes the blues? Looking for a surefire way to bring smiles to faces? Just add a few secret treasures from your certain favorite bulk candy store in the luggage and you’re well on your way to earning your “World’s Greatest Parents” t-shirts.

Summer Essentials – Be a Bulk Candy Store in a Box!

Parents looking for summer camp brownie points should never underestimate the power of sweets! Whether you’ll be packing away your sweet treats or sending them as part of your care packages, parents who buy bulk candy can save time and money and help their kids make a lasting impression on their new pals. Here are a few other suggested items:

* Digital or disposable cameras (so they can hold onto mementos from their getaway)

Mother’s Day is always the second Sunday in May. This year, make Mom a little nostalgic, and maybe even a little misty-eyed by putting together a “Mom and Me” scrapbook. And, to sweeten the deal, give her nostalgic candy from through the years to bring back beautiful memories!

I think back to my childhood where I would use my allowance to go to the corner store (remember those?) and buy gummy fish and vanilla popsicles. I can still see Ziggy (yes, that was the store owner’s name) counting out the fish on the old-fashioned candy counter, and then sliding the candy from the counter into one of those tiny brown paper bags.

Or, I would go down the block to the other corner store (yes, there were two within 200 yards of one another, on the same side of the same street), and buy Smarties pops and my favorite, marshmallow ice cream cones! That’s when soda came in 16 ounce glass bottles, when you would earn a few cents for some more penny candy when you returned the glass bottle! What are your mom’s favorite candies from her childhood? Include some of those as well. (My mom loves Squirrel Nut Zippers and Mary Janes.)

Enough of my nostalgia. Enjoy these ideas for your scrapbook…

Create a “Through the Years” scrapbook:

Dedicate each page to every year of your life with mom, with pictures of the two of you together from when you were an infant to an adult, and of course, some fun captions, too.

Or, try a “Side by Side” scrapbook with themed pages—about you on one side, and about Mom on the opposite facing page as follows:

Find a baby picture of you and a baby picture of Mom, and cut out each face. Create a “crib” on each page complete with a blanket, and tuck each baby into her crib!

Include a “garden” filled with flowers (decals or pressed, dried ones) from your birth month and from hers.

Create a page with high school or college memorabilia for each of you, and include graduation photos of each of you.

Compare the meaning of each of your names side by side, and build each page theme around the respective meanings.

Take a step back in time, and include prices from the year of your birth and the year of Mom’s birth for popular items such as a gallon of gas, a candy bar, a year of college tuition, a loaf of bread, etc.

Give Mom the gift of nostalgia for a Mother’s Day neither of you will ever forget!

Earth Day is April 22nd, and we at BlairCandy.com want to do our part, and help you do yours, to give a little extra TLC to Mother Earth. It is easy to make some small changes to make a big impact!

In the past, we used packing peanuts for securing our shipments. Now, we use packing material that is comprised of 60% recycled material for almost all of our shipments; gone is the styrofoam, because this new option is made from paper! BlairCandy.com recycles cardboard, too.

It sounds simple, but to quote Woodsy The Owl, “Give a hoot; don’t pollute!” Habits start young, so be sure to teach children from early on that candy and gum wrappers go in the trash basket, not on the ground.

Think about volunteering for a local “Adopt A Roadway” initiative with your family or workplace and help keep the shoulders of the roads clean and clear of debris or trash. It’s good publicity for an employer, and a great way for children and adults to get involved in the community around the home. Contact AdoptAHighway.net or your local city or town hall for information.

Use biodegradable paper bags instead of plastic ones. One plastic bag can literally take hundreds of years to break down, and may not ever fully decompose. With an estimated 100 billion plastic bags used every year, you can imagine what kind of problem we have on our hands.

Buy in bulk – with bulk candy, of course! It saves on packing materials, and is lighter on your wallet, too, as the average cost per unit decreases when the quantity in the package increases. Also, don’t be wasteful. If you have leftover candy (think Easter, Halloween, etc.) or supplies (Little League snack stands, family picnics, etc.) that you can’t use, don’t trash them; donate to a local shelter instead. You would be surprised at how much the little things are appreciated by your fellow citizens, and by good old Mother Earth.

We had the pleasure of coming across a hop-tastic Easter candy infographic posing the question “Do We Eat Too Much Easter Candy?” Sure, many of us nosh on our fair share of scrumptious candy on Easter morning…and Easter afternoon…and Easter night, but candy is all about moderation. Like all things, enjoy candy throughout the year in normal quantities, and when it comes to candy-rich holidays, like Easter, Valentine’s Day, and Halloween, treat yourself to all the seasonal candies till your heart’s content. Life’s short, so sweeten it with candy

The candy facts we crave:

16 billion Jelly Beans are created just for Easter

90 million chocolate bunnies are produced each year for Easter

4 million Peeps and Chicks are produced for Easter – each day!

Each household spends around $131 on Easter candy

Do you concur with these candylicious numbers? How much do you typically spend on Easter candy? What kind of Easter treats do you usually choose- Jelly Beans, Peeps, chocolate bunnies, Reeses Eggs, etc…